Sharad and Ajit Pawar
Credit: PTI Photos
Mumbai: As Maharashtra braces for the assembly polls, it would witness direct clashes between the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Sharad Pawar-headed NCP (SP) in 36 places out of the 288 constituencies.
These contests would decide whether people are with the nephew or uncle -- who are now on two sides of the political spectrum.
The majority of these are being witnessed in the sugar belt of Western Maharashtra where the two parties will clash in 15 constituencies, followed by the food and fruit bowl of North Maharashtra in seven places in the forthcoming Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections.
Among these is the battle of Baramati, where Ajit Pawar is pitted against his brother Shriniwas Pawar’s son Yugendra Pawar, who has been groomed and trained by Sharad Pawar, and his daughter and NCP Working President Supriya Sule, the four-time Baramati MP.
In the Lok Sabha polls, Ajit Pawar, a one-time Baramati MP and seven-time Baramati MLA, had fielded his wife Sunetra Pawar against Supriya Sule; however, the latter won the battle against all odds.
The Baramati clash during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls came just months after the June-July 2023 split in the 25-year-old NCP, after which Ajit Pawar took command of the original NCP party and the iconic clock symbol while Sharad Pawar had to settle with party name NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and man-blowing-tutari symbol.
Ajit Pawar left the Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.D.I.A.) opposition camp where he was Leader of the Opposition and switched over to the Maha Yuti (NDA) to become the Deputy Chief Minister for the fifth time.
While the maximum NCP vs NCP (SP) clashes are in Western Maharashtra (15), it is followed by North Maharashtra (7), Marathwada (5), Vidarbha (4), Mumbai (1), larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region (2) and Konkan (2).
The Western Maharashtra clashes are happening in Baramati, Ambegaon, Indapur, Kagal, Hadapsar, Vadgaon Sheri, Islampur, Tasgaon Kavathe-Mahankal, Shirur, Phaltan, Mohol, Pimpri, Junnar, Wai and Chandgad.
The seven North Maharashtra seats are Ahmednagar City, Akole, Parner, Kopargaon, Yeola, Dindori and Sinner.
The five Marathwada seats are Basmath, Udgir, Parli, Majalgaon and Ahmedpur.
The four Vidarbha seats are Aheri, Tumsar, Morshi and Pusad.
The two Konkan seats are Chiplun and Shrivardhan.
While in Mumbai, the lone seat is Anushakti Nagar involving Sana Malik and Fahad Ahmed, in the larger MMR, the two seats are Mumbra-Kalwa and Shahpur.
In the Lok Sabha polls, NCP (AP) fielded candidates in four places and could win just one seat, while NCP (SP) put up 10 contestants and won eight seats.
Ever since the NCP was formed in 1999, the undivided party, headed by Sharad Pawar, had bagged the lion's share of seats from Western Maharashtra
The NCP was founded on June 10, 1999 by Sharad Pawar, PA Sangma and Tariq Anwar.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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